When I first heard about Appetite For Reduction, Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s latest cookbook, I knew it would be right up my alley. The recipes are similar to how I usually cook – whole foods, high flavor, low fat and calories. I bought the book a few weeks before Christmas and having been cooking from it since. Most of the recipes I’ve chosen so far have been based on what has been in my CSA deliveries, and there are a lot more recipes I look forward to trying.

Broiled Blackened Tofu. You just coat the tofu with the spice mix and broil it. Simple and tasty!

Butternut Coconut Rice. Mixing in mashed butternut squash is a smart way to make rice yummy and coconutty without adding a lot of fat. The only thing I would change with this recipe is to dice the shallot instead of slicing it, because the long slices were kind of weird compared to the texture of the rest of the dish.

Pineapple Collards. This maybe doesn’t look too appealing because my ginger was stringy, but the flavor is great. I just wish I had used more collards, because the pineapple/garlic/ginger combo was a little overpowering. Plus, I wanted to eat more of it.

All packed up to take for lunch.

Curried Cabbage & Peas, served with quinoa. The texture on these veggies was great – they were cooked enough to be tender, but still have a bite to them. The curry flavor isn’t incredibly complex, but the dish comes together really quickly, so I’m not complaining!

Not from AFR – I ate this Romanesco Carrot Salad with the curried cabbage. The recipe was in my CSA’s newsletter, and it was a nice way to use the romanesco.

Irish Stew with Potatoes & Seitan. This was a bust for me, but not due to the recipe. I used the steamed white seitan from Viva Vegan, and even after being sauteed the seitan was squishy like raw dough, and really unpleasant to eat. I’ve heard about other people having trouble with the seitan recipe, and also others who have had success, so perhaps it was just me. I picked all the seitan out, and the stew was pretty good.

Tempeh Helper. This is one I was really excited about. The recipe is posted here, on The PPK blog. This is super good! It tastes like junk food from a box, but isn’t junky at all. I was skeptical about the technique – you cook the pasta and other ingredients in a pan with a smaller amount of water than normal – but it worked out well. The pasta came out al dente, and the water cooked off without the dish getting dry. Next time I want to crumble the tempeh more finely so it’s spread throughout the dish.

The Gravy Bowl, slightly modified. I know how to put together a “bowl” on my own, but the suggestions in the three-page bowl section are good when you’re looking for something easy to throw together. Brown rice, baked tofu, steamed kale and collards and silky chickpea gravy. The gravy is not as flavor-intensive as some gravies, but for a gravy made with 1 teaspoon of oil it’s darned good.

Sushi Roll Edamame Salad. I’m no stranger to the sushi salad. I had tried this salad previously at a potluck, so I knew how good it was, which is why I was surprised that mine didn’t taste as good. I think I put too much green onion in the dressing (maybe my onions were particularly strong), and then added more as garnish, and the onion overpowered the whole thing. Less green onion next time, and it will be great.

Orange-Scented Broccoli, which I served alongside the sushi salad. This one was not my favorite; it tasted like ginger, garlic, broccoli and orange separately, as opposed to coming together as one big flavor. It was more cohesive as leftovers the next day, after the flavors had a chance to meld. Still, next time I would probably just steam the broccoli.

Morrocan Chickpeas & Zucchini served with Caulipots. I used some early-season, tender zucchini in this dish. The flavor in this soup is fantastic. It’s really easy to make, and turns out with a really wonderful spiciness throughout. The caulipots (mashed potatoes made partly with cauliflower) were a nice, creamy counterpart. I looked forward to eating these leftovers each day.

Butternut-Apple Soup and Fresh Corn & Scallion Cornbread. Sadly, this soup was another dud for me. It’s not a bad recipe by any means, just a matter of taste. I think I’m learning that I just don’t like apples in soup. The cornbread was nice dipped in the soup, and the whole corn kernels made for good texture.

Lastly for today, Yam & Black Bean Soup with Orange & Cilantro. I wasn’t expecting anything amazing from this recipe, so I was pleasantly surprised that it tastes amazing! The simple ingredients combine to make one wonderfully tasty soup. The two serrano peppers really turn up the heat, and the orange juice keeps it fresh. I baked some corn tortilla chips for dipping.

Considering how much I’ve enjoyed the recipes I’ve made so far, this might be the first cookbook that I end up making almost every recipe from.

Luckily for you guys, my mom is an excellent present-buyer. She also knew that I would love AFR, and bought me a copy for Christmas, which I am now passing on to one of you! And, I got the book signed when I had the pleasure of attending a cooking demo that Isa did a few weeks ago. She made the Thai Roasted Root Vegetable Curry and Sweet Potato Drop Biscuits, both of which I now want to make myself.

To enter to win this copy of Appetite For Reduction, leave a comment on this post with a healthy cooking tip. It doesn’t have to be anything complicated, just any tip for cooking healthy vegan food. The contest will be open until midnight PST this Wednesday, March 9, and I’ll pick a comment at random. Please be sure to include your e-mail address (unless I’m able to find it by following a link to your blog). I’ll be back on Thursday to announce the winner and show you a few more recipes I’ve made from AFR. Good luck!

PS – I should mention that this is open to residents of the US and Canada only. Sorry, everyone else! If shipping was less costly, I would love to send it around the world!

And so we come to the end of VeganMoFo 2010! I didn’t meet my goal of blogging every weekday, but I did write make-up posts on the weekends when I missed, so I am still declaring my goal met. I’ve really enjoyed reading lots of the other MoFo posts. Sadly, I barely had enough time to keep up with the blogs that I already read, and I didn’t have much time to check out new blogs. I’ll be reading through all the other blogs now that things are slowing down.

My themed weeks were really fun – Other Bloggers’ Recipes Week, Vegetarian Times Week, and Flavor Bible Week. I don’t cook from recipes as often as I like, nor do I force myself to work with ingredients I’m not used to, so it really took me outside my comfort zone. The unfortunate side effect was that I mostly ignored my CSA deliveries in November, letting the fruits and veggies wither away. Here are the contents of the latest box.

So, while MoFo was fun, I’m looking forward to going back to using my CSA deliveries well, going to the farmer’s market, and bringing my grocery budget back into a normal range. Tonight I used some of the sad vegetables to make dinner.

While it doesn’t photograph well, this casserole has everything I want in a one-dish dinner: protein, green veggies, complex carbs, healthy fats, creamy and crunchy textures, and a good calorie count. I wasn’t sure I liked it at first, but as I kept eating the flavors totally grew on me. This casserole may not be for you if you don’t like cabbage, tempeh and sweet potatoes because, well, that’s what it’s made from!

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Place 1 cup of the milk in a measuring glass or small bowl. Add the cashew butter, miso, Dijon mustard, vinegar, nutritional yeast, salt and a few grinds of black pepper. (If using water instead of vegetable broth, add a pinch more salt.) Whisk together – It’s okay if there are a few small lumps of cashew butter left.
3. Place the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the leek, carrot, celery and garlic and saute for about 10 minutes, or until vegetables are starting to soften.
4. Add the cabbage and increase the heat a bit. Continue to cook for 5 minutes, until most of the cabbage is wilted. Stir frequently so that the cabbage doesn’t brown too much.
5. Add the tempeh, chickpea flour and thyme and cook for 1 minute, stirring very well to fully incorporate the flour.
6. Re-whisk the milk mixture and add to the pot, stirring well. The mixture will be absorbed quickly.
7. Add the vegetable broth or water and mix well. Continue to cook and stir until there is little liquid at the bottom of the pan.
8. Transfer the mixture to a 9 X 9 baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, place the sweet potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes, until easily pierced with a fork.
10. Drain the sweet potatoes and return to the pot, adding the remaining 1/4 cup milk and a pinch of salt. Mash well.
11. Uncover the baking dish and carefully spread the sweet potatoes over the top, trying not to disturb the cabbage mixture. Grind some black pepper over the sweet potatoes. Return the casserole to the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
12. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. To serve, cut each portion with a knife then transfer to plate with a spatula.

Dave and I like beer, and we like food, and we like having people over for beer and food, so we threw an Octoberfest Party! I prepared by going to the party store, because I love the party store.

Steins, pint glasses and Das Boot, all lined up and ready for use.

My baby mug, with my first beer of the day.

Food table – Ignore the meat!

Rye bread and two kinds of mustard, spicy and sweet.

Regular sauerkraut, jalapeno sauerkraut, pickles and beets.

Tofurkey beer brats, grilled. I bought a lot of the cute flag picks, so they went in everything throughout the day.

Trader Joe’s Pumpernickel Pretzels, which I am obsessed with.

German-ish potato salad. I wasn’t going to make a vegan potato salad since Dave was making the “regular” kind with bacon, but he had some extra cooked potatoes so I tossed them with oil, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper and celery seed.

Black Forest Brownies. I used the brownie recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, and the cherry sauce recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I added a bit of almond extract to both the brownies and sauce, because almonds and cherries are awesome together.

Pretty Fall-time flower arrangement.

I actually didn’t anticipate that this much of our feast would be vegan. This was one tasty plate of German food! I forgot to get an individual picture of the Lowenbrau Coleslaw, which is on the upper right of the plate.

After stuffing our bellies, we had a pretzel making session! We had mixed up a double recipe of this Bavarian Pretzel recipe, and it rose while we were eating. Everyone got a shot at making their own pretzel, while I reminded them how the process went, because by then we had all had a few beers. “No! Boil it, ten seconds on each side, THEN salt, THEN the oven. Stop throwing flour at the cat!” Pretzel making is serious business.

Whenever we make soft pretzels, Dave wants to make them as giant as possible, and these are the two he made. They were pretty giant! We boiled them in a wok instead of a pan, just so Dave could make them giant.

Our friend Matt made this precious pretzel, which reminded me of the Volkswagen logo.

Dave’s cousin Daniel made this pretzel which looks like…I won’t say…

Fantastic piles of pretzels! They turned out really well, and were some of the best pretzels I’ve ever tasted!

Sadly, as usual, I didn’t get any good people pictures. I gotta get better at that. I have one picture of Dave in his finest German beer drinking outfit, but he’d probably kill me if I posted it ;)

This meal may not have been the prettiest color, but it had plenty of good flavor. I received four beautiful jalapeno peppers in one of my CSA deliveries, and I thought to myself, “What can I possibly do with four jalapenos?”. I decided that roasting them and pairing them with polenta would be good, and the rest of the meal developed from there. I was going to make just the polenta and slaw, but while I was at the Mexican market I came across some prepared nopales, and I had to have them.

You can roast jalapeno peppers just like you would roast a red bell pepper. There are various methods, but since I don’t have a gas stove I usually broil the peppers in the oven until they are blackened on all sides, then put them in a bag or covered bowl to let the skin loosen. It was difficult to get the skin off and seed them, but not too daunting.

Polenta with Roasted Jalapenos and Black Beans

Roasting and seeding the jalapenos gets rid of most of the heat. What little heat is left effectively spreads through this whole dish.

1. Place the polenta, broth and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking occasionally.
2. Reduce the heat to medium low. As the polenta starts to thicken, add the remaining ingredients and whisk frequently.
3. The polenta is ready to serve when it is thick and difficult to whisk. Serve hot.

1. Place the fennel, cabbage and carrot in a large bowl and toss to combine.
2. Place all dressing ingredients (tomato through salt) in a blender, and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
3. Pour most of the dressing over the slaw and stir to coat. Add the rest of the dressing if needed. Serve at room temperature.

Nopales are really kind of awesome. I had never seen or heard of them until I moved to California and started noticing them in Mexican groceries. They’re literally a cactus pad. You can buy the whole, prickly pad and prepare it yourself, but I prefer to buy them already cleaned and diced. To see how they’re prepared, check out this site or this video. Somehow I don’t think it’s as easy as the guy in the video makes it look! Nopales taste and feel kind of similar to green beans, albeit a little slimy, and they’re pretty good for you.

Most of these veggies went into a salad that wasn’t worth mentioning, but some of them went into this.

I turned a standard tagine recipe into a stew by adding more broth and some millet. Also included were cauliflower, carrot, chickpeas, tomatoes, peas and dried apricot. This turned out pretty well, but the flavor was a little watered down, so I guess I didn’t compensate for the extra ingredients by adding enough spices.

8/26/10 CSA: lemon cucumber, jalapenos, fennel, lettuce

lots of tomatoes, pears, apples, peaches and a cantaloupe

Some of these veggies went into a delicious Mexican-inspired meal which I will post about, just as soon as I get those recipes written up!

One Friday afternoon we came home from work, both ravenous. I didn’t have anything planned for dinner and wanted to throw something together quickly, and asked Dave if he wanted to have what I was having for dinner. When Dave is hungry and has no food in the house, it’s easy to get him to eat almost anything.

Ugly picture, tasty sandwich. I thawed a block of tofu that had been living in the freezer for lord knows how long, and baked it with a smoky maple sauce. Topped with a really nice tomato and crisp lettuce, and served on wheat toast with Vegenaise. Who could say no?

I had some rice left over from Chinese takeout which was begging to be made into fried rice, so I threw it in the wok with all the veggies I had – onion, garlic, carrot, celery, tons of cabbage, edamame and broccoli. This was light on rice and heavy on cabbage, and if I remember correctly Dave had some of it too.

Lastly, some braised mustard greens that I made to accompany some beanie weenies. I bought the greens in a pre-washed and -chopped package from Trader Joe’s, which made ‘em that much quicker to prepare. I started by cooking onion and garlic slowly to develop the flavor, then added the greens, a chopped tomato and a thin layer of veggie broth. And, if I know myself at all, there was probably a bit of liquid smoke. The greens turned out really well, and I could’ve easily eaten the entire pan at once!

My friend Amey has the BEST potlucks. Whenever Amey hosts, I’m happy to make the drive down to Santa Cruz because I wouldn’t want to miss it!

Back in July, the Santa Cruz PPKers had the brilliant idea for a Dumpling Potluck. Anything was fair game, as long as it was in dumpling form. The turnout was smaller than usual, but the food was great.

My contribution was “chicken” and dumplings, a reinvention of a dish I used to enjoy every year at Thanksgiving with my very southern family.

I based the soup on this recipe, and used a baked chicken seitan recipe for the chicken part. I wasn’t thrilled with how the seitan came out, but the dumplings and broth were dead on. Fantastic.

Mini Empanadas

Chinese Barbecue Seitan Buns with a Spicy Soy-Ginger Dipping Sauce

Some sort of tasty, doughy dumpling with a German name and delicious tomato herb gravy.

Mini Farmer’s Market Tamales with Pico de Gallo

Savory plate. I liked that everything was mini-sized.

With some chicken and dumplings and blood orange soda.

Mini Cherry Pies with Marzipan

Mochi Daifuku with Red Bean Paste

Lavender Berry Cream Pie. The crust on this pie was so good!

Dessert plate, with vanilla ice cream.

For a more timely and detailed account, check out Amey’s post here. While all of the food was supremely delicious, we quickly realized that it was all very beige and didn’t exactly leave us feeling light in our loafers. Someone came up with the idea of a rainbow theme for our next potluck, with the goal of more colorful and less carby food in mind.

So, a few weeks ago we got together at Amey’s house again to taste the rainbow. We tried to go for a double rainbow of both savory and sweet, in tribute to the double rainbow video. I came to the color-claiming party late, and accepted a challenge by choosing a blue savory dish. I wasn’t really sure what blue foods I could use other than blue cornmeal, and then I learned that you can dye foods blue with red cabbage water. Red cabbage basically acts as a pH indicator, and turns colors depending on its pH. Fun with science!

I decided to make blue pupusas, with hopefully blue curtido. First, I cooked some small white beans in the red cabbage water.

Then I refried the beans with onion, garlic, cumin and coriander.

Then I used cabbage water for the liquid in making the pupusa dough. I tried to make the curtido blue as well by cooking red cabbage in baking soda water, and it turned the cabbage a beautiful teal color. Unfortunately, when I added the vinegar-based dressing the acidity turned the cabbage back to purple. It was actually kind of fortunate, as the violet portion of our rainbow would have been lacking otherwise.

Amey decorated the table with construction paper and color-matched beverages. From left to right:

I made less pupusas than there were people, so I cut them in half to reveal the pretty blue insides.

Savory plate, with both soups. Everything was so fresh and tasty! We definitely had more veggies than usual due to the color requirements. The mac n cheese was based on the VegNews recipe, and it was one of the best I’ve ever had.

Dessert plate, upon which everything was awesome! The standout was the basil-coconut-lime ice cream, which was outrageously good. The lemon bundt was also intensely lemony and wonderful.

Sadly, I don’t have any people pictures from either party, because once I sat down with all the delicious food I just wanted to eat and enjoy the company. Amey has more details and some people pictures on her blog post here. Can’t wait for another Santa Cruz potluck!